Air-ground rescue device including protective shield assembly therefor



Sept. 6. 1969 a. w. CARSON, JR 3,467,345

AIR-GROUND RESCUE DEVICE INCLUDING PROTECTIVE SHIELD ASSEMBLY THEREFOR Filed Nov. 16, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTOR. 6501265 /4. dwm/ BY I wf dY'l-nfc 5 M,

Sept. 16, 1969 5, w, CARSON, JR 3,467,346

AIR-GROUND RESCUE DEVICE INCLUDING PROTECTIVE SHIELD ASSEMBLY THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 16, 7

Sept. 16. 1969 G. w. CARSON, JR 3,467,346

' AIR-GROUND RESCUE DEVICE INCLUDING PROTECTIVE @HIELD ASSEMBLY THEREFOR Filed NOV. 16, 1967 4 SheetsSheet 5 HEB:

Sept. 16, 1969 e. w. CARSON, JR 3,467,346

AIR-GROUND masons DEVICE INCLUDING PROTECTIVE swam) ASSEMBLY THEREFOR Flled. Nov 16. 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet L United States Patent US. Cl. 244-137 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An air ground rescue device, having seats hingedly mounted thereon, is secured to the lower end of a helicoptervhoist cable. A protective shield assembly is also mounted on the cable and has clam-shell type panels which can be secured together in their stowed positions to provide a low profile combination well adapted to be lowered'through overhanging tree branches. A person to be rescued lowers a seat and raises a panel and positions himself on such seat, at which time the panel can be lowered to overlie his back to permit the device, with the person aboard, to be raised upwardly through the branches to complete the rescue.

Summary of invention This invention relates to air-ground rescue devices, and deals more particularly with a protective, shield assembly for such a device which is so constructed that a person to be rescued can secure himself to the device and the shield will protect him as thedevice is raised through overhanging tree branches or the like.

A general object of the present invention is to provide anair-ground rescue device which includes a shield assembly having panels which are adapted to be spread to permit the person to be rescued togain access to a seat, and which panels'can be closed against one another to provide a low profile unit well suited to be lowered through overhanging tree branches.

I Another general object of the present invention is to providean air-ground rescue device which includes a shield assembly having clam-shell type panels which provide the-same low profile --when the person to be rescued has positioned himself on the seat for ascent through overhanging tree branches.

- Still another general object of the present invention is to provide .an air-ground rescue device which includes a shield assembly so constructedas to "be readily removed or installed on a helicopter hoist cableby a-single crewman aboard the helicopter.

The drawings showa preferred embodiment of the invention and such embodiment will be described, but it will be understood that various changes may be made from the construction disclosed, and that the drawings and "description are not to be construed as defining or limiting the scope of the invention, the claims forming a part of this'specification being relied upon for that purpose.

Brief description of the drawings FIG; 1' is a perspective view of an air-ground rescue device, including a protective shield, both of which are mounted on a cable suspended from a helicopter (not shown) with a person to be rescued positioned on a foldable. seat. 7

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the device shown in F IG. 1 with the shield assembly panels in their stowed positions and with the foldable seats in their stowed positions, said panels and seats also being shown in their open or active position in broken lines.

3,467,346 Patented Sept. 16, 1969 FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the upper portion of the shield assembly shown in FIG. 2 being taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the upper portion of the shield assembly shown in FIG. 2, with portions broken away in order to better reveal the mechanism contained therein.

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of the mechanism for releasably securing the seats together when in their stowed positions.

Description of preferred embodiment Turning now to the drawings in greater detail, FIG. 1 shows an air-ground rescue device constructed in accordance with the present invention, and including a protective shield assembly having one panel overlying the back portion of a person to be rescued so as to protect him as the helicopter hoist cable 10* raises the entire device upwardly through overhanging tree branches or the like.

The rescue seat portion of the device may be of conventional design, as for example that described in a copending application of Greenberg et a1, entitled Air Sea- Rescue Device With Flotation Collar, filed June 21, 1967 under Serial No. 647,647 and assigned to the assignee herein. As described therein and as shown herein, a set of three foldable seats 12, 12 are hingedly mounted adjacent the lower end of the rescue device and each of these is movable from an extended position to a folded position shown. The upper portion of the rescue seat comprises an elongated shank portion terminating in an eye 14 which can be received on the helicopter hoist cable hook which hook preferably is of the full swivel type and includes a cylindrical bearing portion as shown at 16. Finally, the upper portion of the rescue seat includes a fabric envelope in which a plurality of safety straps 18, 18v are provided for securing an unconscious person to be rescued to the device, or simply to serve as a safety strap for the person being rescued as shown in FIG. 1.

In accordance with the present invention, a protective shield assembly is provided on the cable 10, in spaced relation above the rescue seat portion just described, in order to protect the person being rescued from overhanging tree branches or the like. As shown the shield assembly comprises a pair of clam-shell type panels 20, 20 each of which is hingedly connected at its upper end to a cap 22, which cap can be releasable secured to the cable 10 in a manner to be described. The panels 20, 20 are preferably formed of transparent plastic material into the clam-shell shape shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is an important feature of the present invention that the panels 20, 20 can be releasably secured in their stowed positions wherein the corresponding side edges of said panels are arranged in contiguous relation to one another to facilitate lowering of the entire device downwardly through overhanging tree 'branches or the like. Means is provided for releasably retaining the panels 20, 20 in the stowed position and, preferably, said means comprises an elastic cord 24 which is adapted to encircle the lower flanged edges of the panels as best shown in FIG. 6. The elastic cord 24 can be conveniently removed from one of the panels at the time a seat 12 is lowered by pushing a clip 25- downwardly to expand the cord 24 slightly so that it drops off the lower flanged edge of the panel 20. A retaining cord 23 prevents loss of the clip 25 following release of the panel 20 as described.

As shown to best advantage in FIG. 2, the conically shaped cap 22 has a laterally open side slot 28 for receiving the suspended cable 10. This slot 28 is also shown in FIG. 3, wherein the cap 22 is shown in plan view with the cable 10 being shown in section in generally centered relation with respect to the cap 22. A pivotally mounted lever 30 is provided in the cap 22 for movement about an axis defined by pivot pin 48 and the lever 30 is pro- VldCd in a recess 34 defined for this purpose in the cap 22 generally opposite to the laterally open side slot 28 for receiving the cable 10. The lever 30 not only provides a convenient handle with which the shield assembly can be positioned on the cable 10, but also serves when moved to the position shown in FIGS. 4 and 3 to actuate a pair of cable clamping paws (to be described) for removably mounting the shield assembly to the cable 10.

As best shown in FIG. 2, each of the panels 20, 20 is movable from the stowed position shown in full lines to the broken line position indicated for the left-hand panel. Each panel is hingedly connected to the cap 22 by a short straight hinge 38 of conventional design having one side connected to the inside of the panel and the other side connected to the inside of the cap as shown in FIG. 5. In the raised position wherein the panel 20 is arranged at substantially 90 to the cable 10, it will be apparent that a person to be rescued can readily position himself on the seat 12 for rescue.

The panels 20, 20 can be releasably held in the raised position shown in FIG. 2 by a pair of channel shaped brackets 36, 36 having detents 40, 40 in the leg portions thereof for releasably engaging protrusions 39, 39 on brackets 41, 41 carried by the cap 22. Each channel bracket 36 is mounted at one end on a rod 37, which rod has its ends mounted to an associated panel 20 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Turning now to FIGS. 4 and in greater detail, the conically shaped cap 22 comprises the upper port-ion of the shield assembly and includes a laterally extending web member 42 provided for stiffening the cap in the plane defined by the two hinges 38, 38 associated with the panels 20, 20. The cap structure is further strengthened by an inverted U-shaped housing 44 which is carried by the web member 42 and which serves as a fixed structure for pivotally supporting the lever 30. The lever 30 is pivotally supported for movement about a fixed axis defined by the pivot pin 48 mounted on the upper portion of the inverted U-shaped housing 44.

The operating lever 30 includes a crank arm portion 56 which extends inwardly toward the cable and carries a link 58 having two right angle bends therein which define offset leg portions. The lower leg portion thereof is received in an arm 50 provided at the midpoint of an oscillatable tubular member 62. From FIG. 3, it can be seen that pivotal movement of the lever 30 serves to oscillate the tubular member 62 on its own axis. The tubular member 62 also carries a pair of clamping jaws 60 and 61 at its upper and lower ends respectively, and these jaws thus pivot on the axis of the member 62 so as to releasably clamp the cable 10 against the inner edge of the slot 28 in the cap 22. The upper jaw 60 is shown in FIG. 3 in clamping position against the cable 10. An outwardly extending finger portion 63 moves across the slot 28 to trap the cable 10 therein in response to downward pivotal movement of the lever 30. In the clamped position shown, the crank arm portion 56 of the lever 30 moves overcenter in order to hold the clamping jaws 60 and 61 against the cable 10. The upper jaw 60 preferably is located adjacent the U-shaped housing 44, which housing has a slot against which the jaw can urge the cable 10. Similarly, the lower jaw 61 is preferably located adjacent the web 42, which web also defines a slot for receiving the cable 10.

In operating the above-described device, a crewman aboard the rescue helicopter would first position the rescue seat on the hook provided at the lower end of the helicopter hoist cable. The crewman would then position the shield assembly on the cable by sliding the cable through the opening 28 provided for this purpose in the cap and lowering the shield assembly so that a spacer 52 on the underside of the web 42 engages the upper portion of the cylindrical bearing provided on the helicopter hoist cable. He would then secure the panels with the clastic cord 24 adjacent their lower edge portions as described herelnabove. The crewman would then lower the entire assembly downwardly through overhanging tree branches, or other obstructions, to an awaiting person to be rescued. The latter person would pull one of the seats, as for example the seat 12 shown in broken lines in FIG. 2 and remove the cord 24 so that he could lift one of the panels, as for example the panel 20 shown at approximately right angles to the cable 10 in FIG. 2. The person to be rescued would then position himself on the seat and lower the panel 20 to an intermediate position wherein the panel would overlie his back as shown in FIG. 1, at which time he would be ready to be hoisted by the crewman aboard the helicopter. The crewman would then raise the entire assembly with the person on board as depicted in FIG. 1 up to the helicopter. In most cases, the crewman aboard the helicopter would remove the shield upon manipulation of the lever 30 and then hoist the person being rescued to a proper level for permitting said person to gain access to the interior of the helicopter. This last step is a necessary one in most instances because the helicopter hoist mechanism would not permit raising of the entire assembly to a proper height for permitting the rescued person to remove himself from the device without first removing the shield assembly. Thus, it is an important feature of the present invention that the shield assembly itself can be conveniently or easily mounted or removed from the hoist cable. Also, in this vein, it should be noted that the rescue seat device can be used either with or without the shield assembly described herein, depending upon the terrain conditions with which the helicopter rescue crew is confronted in an individual situation.

I claim:

1. An air-ground rescue device for use with a cable suspended from a hovering aircraft, said device comprising seat definingrneans carried at the lower end of the cable, a protective shield assembly removably mounted to the cable above said seat defining means, said shield assembly including a cap having a laterally open side slot for receiving the suspended cable, at least two panels hingedly connected to said cap for movement toward and away from stowed positions wherein their corresponding side edges are arranged contiguous to one another.

2. An air-ground rescue device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said shield assembly panels are of similar size and shape, each panel having a concave inner surface for encircling the head and shoulders of a person to be rescued, and a convex outer surface for brushing away tree branches during ascent and descent of the device.

3. An air-ground rescue device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said seat defining means comprises at least two seats, each of said seats being foldable upwardly to a stowed position, and wherein said means for releasably retaining said shield panels in said stowed positions comprises an elastic cord carried at the lower edge of said panels to retain said panels in their stowed positions by encircling said lower edge portions.

4. An air-ground rescue device for use with a cable suspended from a hovering aircraft, said device comprising means defining at least one seat upon which a person to be rescued can position himself, said seat defining means being carried at the lower end of the cable, a protective shield assembly including a cap having a laterally open side slot for receiving the suspended cable, at least one panel hingedly connected to said cap for movement toward and away from a depending position wherein said panel is adapted to overlie at least the upper back of a person on said seat defining means, a lever pivotally mounted to said cap, a support member carried by said cap, at least one cable clamping jaw pivotally carried by said support member, and linkage means conmeeting said clamping jaw to said lever for releasably clamping said cable to said cap in response to movement of said lever.

5. An air-ground rescue device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said shield assembly comprises a second panel hingedly connected to said cap opposite said one panel, and means for releasably retaining both panels in stowed positions wherein their corresponding side edges are arranged contiguous to one another to facilitate lowering the entire device through overhanging tree branches or the like.

6. An air-ground rescue device as set forth in claim 5 wherein said shield assembly panels are of similar size and shape, each panel having a concave inner surface for encircling the head and shoulders of a person to be rescued, and a convex outer surface for brushing away tree branches during ascent and descent of the device.

7. An air-ground rescue device as set forth in claim 6 wherein said seat defining means comprises at least two seats, each of said seats being foldable upwardly to a stowed position, and wherein said means for releasably retaining said shield panels in said stowed positions comprises an elastic cord carried at the lower edge of said panels to retain said panels in their stowed positions by encircling said lower edge portions.

8. An air-ground rescue device as set forth in claim 7 and further including means for releasa-bly retaining each of said panels in said depending position and in a spread position wherein said panel extends outwardly from said cap to permit the person using said device to readily position himself on a seat for rescue.

9. An air-ground rescue. device as set forth in claim 8 wherein said cap comprises a generally conically shaped member having a recess for said lever generally opposite said laterally open side slot, said lever being positioned in said recess of said conically shaped member when said clamping jaws are in engagement with said cable.

10. An air-ground rescue device as set forth in claim 9 wherein said panels in their stowed positions have their corresponding side edges spaced slightly apart to define a laterally open slot which is in vertical alignment with said slot in said cap for receiving the suspended cable.

11. An air-ground rescue device as set forth in claim 10 wherein said panels are made at least in part of a transparent plastic material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,738,939 3/1956 Johnson 244137 2,985,224 5/1961 Sowder 2.44140 X 3,195,943 7/1965 Taylor 294131 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner THOMAS W. BUCKMAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

